Articles
VIROLOGISTS AND ORNAMENTALISTS
The urge to beautify his environment may be considered one of the basic instincts of Homo sapiens.
Therefore, we may certainly assume that in prehistoric times, when man embarked on what is now called the ‘agricultural revolution’, he soon became interested in growing ornamental plants.
The legendary ‘hanging gardens’ of Babylon indicate that the art reached a high level in ancient civilizations.
Turning to the western part of the world, we should remember that few of the ornamental plants widely grown at present were known here in the Middle Ages.
In the seven centuries from Charlemagne to the end of mediaeval times, the total number of species of garden plants occurring more or less generally in this part of the world increased from about 40 to 90. In the sixteenth century this number rose to about 300. Around 1600, professional gardeners and dealers began to grow many of these plants, to offer them for sale.
In those early days of the capitalistic epoch, exotic plants sometimes even formed a subject of wild speculation.
Perhaps the best known example of such crazes is the ‘tulipomania’ seen in The Netherlands between 1634 and 1637, when single tulip bulbs were sold for a fortune.
It was not until the nineteenth century, however, that commercial production acquired a steady and increasing economic importance.
In our time, in most of the industrialized countries, living flowers and plants in homes and gardens are looked upon as a necessity of life.
However, there are people in some parts of the world who still prefer synthetic ones for which crude oil serves as the raw material.
I am sure that in the end mortal ornamentals will survive the everlasting ugliness of the copies made in Hongkong.
The economic importance of the production of ornamental plants in many parts of the world is steadily increasing.
Some countries started commercial production only recently and have reached a fantastic growth in a few years time (Israël, Colombia, Kenya). But countries with a long history in this field have also kept their end up, as is clearly demonstrated by the following figures from The Netherlands: